Paper · Dec 4, 2025

Mean curvature flow near a peanut solution

Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum

math.APWider flowsarXiv:2512.05077v2
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Abstract

It was shown by Angenent, Altschuler and Giga, and by Angenent and Velazquez that there exist closed mean curvature flow solutions that extinct to a point in finite time, without ever becoming convex prior to their extinction. These solutions develop a degenerate neckpinch singularity, meaning that the tangent flow at a singularity is a round cylinder, but at the same time for each of these solutions there exists a sequence of points in space and time, so that the pointed blow up limit around this sequence is the Bowl soliton. These solutions are called peanut solutions and they were first conjectured to exist by Richard Hamilton, while the existence of those solutions was shown by Angenent, Altschuler and Giga. In this paper we show that this type of solutions are highly unstable, in the sense that in every small neighborhood of any such peanut solution we can find a perturbation so that the mean curvature flow starting at that perturbation develops spherical singularity, and at the same time we can find a perturbation so that the mean curvature flow starting at that perturbation develops a nondegenerate neckpinch singularity. We also show that appropriately rescaled subsequence of any sequence of solutions whose initial data converge to the peanut solution, and all of which develop spherical singularities, converges to the Ancient oval solution.

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Connected papers

The 8 papers on this site closest to this one, judged by the topics they share, the words and phrases in their titles and abstracts, and their authors. They are not its citations, but a map of the work around it. Papers here go back to 2021, plus the canon.

Connected papers This paper in the centre and the 8 papers closest to it around it, in date order clockwise from the top. The closer a paper sits to the centre, the stronger the connection. This paper Type II smoothing in mean curvature flow (Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa Sesum, 2021)5Angenent 2021 Nonconvex ancient solutions to Curve Shortening Flow (Yongzhe Zhang, Connor Olson, Ilyas Khan et al., 2022)6Zhang 2022 Classification of bubble-sheet ovals in ℝ⁴ (Beomjun Choi, Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Wenkui Du et al., 2022)2Choi 2022 Dynamics of Convex Mean Curvature Flow (Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa Sesum, 2023)3Angenent 2023 The PDE-ODI principle and cylindrical mean curvature flows (Richard H. Bamler and Yi Lai, 2025)8Bamler 2025 Unique asymptotics of SO(k)× SO(n-k+1) symmetric ancient ovals of Ricci flow (Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Wenkui Du, Natasa Sesum et al., 2026)4Daskalopoulo 2026 Ancient cylindrical flows with fast or slow convergence (Kyeongsu Choi and Robert Haslhofer, 2026)7Choi 2026 Formation and structural stability of nondegenerate neckpinches (Kyeongsu Choi, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa Sesum, 2026)1Choi 2026
Closer to the centre: more closely connected. Clockwise from the top: oldest to newest. Ricci flowWider flowsalso connected to each other
  1. Formation and structural stability of nondegenerate neckpinches

    Kyeongsu Choi, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa SesumWider flows PDF

    Topics Self-shrinkers & translators, Singularities, Stability & uniqueness · Same authors Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum · Shared terms “neckpinch singularities”, “nondegenerate”, “perturbation”

  2. Classification of bubble-sheet ovals in

    Beomjun Choi, Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Wenkui Du et al.Wider flows PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions · Same authors Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum · Shared terms “ancient ovals”

  3. Dynamics of Convex Mean Curvature Flow

    Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa SesumWider flows PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions, Stability & uniqueness · Same authors Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum · Shared terms “rescaled”, “initial data”

  4. Unique asymptotics of symmetric ancient ovals of Ricci flow

    Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Wenkui Du, Natasa Sesum et al. PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions, Singularities, Stability & uniqueness · Same authors Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum · Shared terms “ancient ovals”, “tangent flow”

  5. Type II smoothing in mean curvature flow

    Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos and Natasa SesumWider flows PDF

    Topics Singularities · Same authors Sigurd Angenent, Panagiota Daskalopoulos, Natasa Sesum · Shared terms “Velazquez”

  6. Nonconvex ancient solutions to Curve Shortening Flow

    Yongzhe Zhang, Connor Olson, Ilyas Khan et al.Wider flows PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions, Self-shrinkers & translators · Same author Sigurd Angenent

  7. Ancient cylindrical flows with fast or slow convergence

    Kyeongsu Choi and Robert HaslhoferWider flows PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions, Singularities · Shared terms “ancient ovals”, “round cylinder”, “neighborhood”

  8. The PDE-ODI principle and cylindrical mean curvature flows

    Richard H. Bamler and Yi Lai PDF

    Topics Ancient solutions, Self-shrinkers & translators, Singularities · Shared terms “bowl soliton”, “tangent flow”

Read around it

Background reading

The guides for the topics of this paper: what each idea is, why it matters, and the papers to read first.

In the guidebook

  1. 12B.3
    The Structure of κ-SolutionsBook 12B · κ-Solutions and Surgery

    Necks and caps, compactness, and universal estimates.

  2. 11B.2
    Ancient Solutions and the Harnack InequalityBook 11B · Solitons, Compactness and Singularities

    Comparing curvature across space and time.

  3. 12B.1
    κ-SolutionsBook 12B · κ-Solutions and Surgery

    Ancient, nonnegatively curved, noncollapsed: the models for singularities.